A while ago someone gave me a new laptop computer. Even though a computer is a complicated piece of machinery, I did not have to go to school or a special class to learn how to use it. I simply turned it on. I did not have to learn how all the hardware pieces work and communicate with the motherboard. Neither did I have to learn the computer’s programming language that runs the system so smoothly.
The operating system was already familiar and so I was able to navigate around pretty simply. I was able to pull up and run the programs I needed plus add a couple I use that did not come with the computer. There were a few things that I did to the computer to personalize it to suit my needs, but most of the settings I left in the default position.
The default setting is set by the manufacturer or maker of the hardware or software. It usually is the setting that fits most applications or users’ needs. These can be changed at the user’s discretion or desires. Most people just leave them alone and do not play with them. It is a real frustration to use someone else’s computer when they have dramatically changed many of the settings. Suddenly, what was supposed to be familiar becomes very unfamiliar.
This got me thinking about many of the changes we see taking place in the church today. Change is always a part of remaining tuned to cultural needs to work and communicate the good news about God’s Kingdom. However, in today’s world, change is coming at us more and more quickly. It is like someone has gone into the world’s operating system and changed all the settings. For many people, this can be very disorienting. It is even more disorienting when the spiritual default settings have been changed and the once familiar church is no longer familiar.
As a former church leader, I witnessed this take place over the last 25 years. Some changes that took place during that time were good. Others have yet to tell us what the long term effects will be upon the church and the followers of Jesus. There is a heartfelt search going on in many Christian communities of faith for a genuine, authentic spirituality that impacts the individual believer as well as his or her world. Of course, this is not something with which only our generation just recently came to grips. It’s been around a long, long time; almost like it is a part of the Church’s spiritual DNA.
One thing that I have noticed is the blending and generalization of evangelical Christianity. At the grass roots level anyway, denomination distinctives in faith and practice are largely ignored, denominational and doctrinal differences are played down, and a pluralism of Christian belief and practice is broadly accepted. I realize that this is not true for every sector of American evangelicalism, but on a broad basis I believe it is accurate. Still, it changes the spiritual default setting that many people are used to when they are a part of a church or denomination.
For instance, one can attend any number of conservative evangelical churches and witness the same type of worship that focuses upon modern music styles, personal expression in worship such as raising hands, and preaching that seeks to emulate the style and messages of larger church models and their leaders. While each individual congregation retains its own distinct character and nature, in a broad overview they are all starting to sound and look alike.
Some of this has to do with what could be called the ‘cross-pollination’ of churches. More and more, believers across denominations with all their doctrinal and faith practice differences are gathering together for conferences, seminars, worship, missions and outreach events, as well as prayer. Likewise, in many communities across the U.S.A., church leadership and denominational leadership is gathering to pray, worship and strategize together for Kingdom building. There are still many places where this is not happening, but the tide is quickly shifting in America away from exclusivity to inclusivity. This is a good thing, I believe.
Of course, some churches and denominations may fair better in this cultural shift than others. I have no prophetic insight or spiritual crystal ball to foretell how this will all turn out. However, it is an unavoidable outcome. There is already some indication that non-denomination and independent churches are growing faster than denominational ones. However, it is still too early to tell what the American evangelical church will look like in another 25 years. How this will affect individual believers will vary.
Cool Desert Nights, Richland, Washington, June 2009 ©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)
I can only speak from my personal experience. Having been involved in Assemblies of God churches all my life, I now find myself attending and becoming increasingly involved in an United Methodist Church that is part of the Confessing Movement in its denomination. The contemporary worship service is the same as what anyone would experience in most Assembly of God churches. I have found in this congregation many practicing Charismatics/Pentecostals. There is a healthy discussion of spiritual gifts and following the leading of the Holy Spirit. One Bible class I attended had a robust theology of the Holy Spirit (Pneumatology).
When people discover my background, they invariably ask, “How did you end up at a Methodist church?” There are a lot of different reasons, but the main one is my own discovery and acknowledgment of how big God’s House is and the wide variety of theologies and spiritual practices he tolerates. Yes, there are certain doctrinal truths that cannot be deviated from and sin that he deals with and asks his Church to deal with among its members. Outside of these things, the boundaries of God’s tent are pretty wide.
Another thing that has struck me in recent years as a leader in Assembly of God churches is how quickly we were willing to abandon our “Pentecostal distinctive” to be included in the broader evangelical movement and accepted in the larger American Christian culture. By this, I am specifically referring to the Assemblies of God stance on the baptism of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues. Not only is this largely not taught but it is also not practiced. More revealing is the broader elimination of the use of prophetic verbal gifts in the congregational setting all together.
Whether out of a desire to not appear the ‘weird uncle’ in the evangelical circles or because teaching and facilitating spiritual gifts in a congregation is necessary but hard work, most Assembly of God pastoral leaders that I associated with opted to avoid their use completely. The recent ‘seeker sensitive’ movement has also put pressure on Assembly of God churches to do away with any expression of spiritual gifts that might scare off seekers. This, in essence, disables the spiritual default setting for long-time Assembly of God members.
I came to the conclusion that if I was simply going to be a part of an evangelical church, it would probably not be an Assembly of God church. Besides the issue of having integrity between doctrinal faith and practice, I desire to be a part of a congregation that recognizes the wide range of places that people may be on in their spiritual journeys and not demand that they all be on the same page or in the same place spiritually. Having led in Assembly of God churches, I am not a fan of their church polity or congregational governance. I think there are better accountability and support systems out there for church and pastoral leaders. I will grant, however, that there are no perfect ones.
All that being said, I found myself in Assembly of God churches that seemed familiar to me but felt like someone had changed the default settings. The denomination label may be there somewhere, overtly on the signage or covertly hidden in internal papers, but the practice of using Spirit-led prophetic verbal gifts is gone. Spirit baptism for Spirit empowerment to take the Gospel to all the world is missing in many places. This may be a good thing, I suppose. Abuse and triumphalism of its doctrinal emphasis on Spirit baptism and glossolalia has done much damage.
At the same time, if denominations are going to disable their spiritual default setting, then they should expect a shift and movement among their congregants. For instance, in my case, if the church I am attending is not really going to preach and practice its stated theology and rather move toward being just like any other evangelical church, then I have to ask myself, “Is this the type of evangelical church I want to attend or is there another model out there I would rather be a part of?” My answer led me to another church model.
I suppose that there will be many like me who will choose to use their own personal spiritual settings to navigate around the changing landscape of the American evangelical church. On the other hand, many will also stay because they cannot dream of going to a different building or location. Let’s just hope that some do not simply get frustrated and turn the church setting off completely.
©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)
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